Need You to Breathe
by amagicalship
Summary: This is my very own idealized version/speculation of the CS reunion in 5x13, where Emma finds Killian wounded in Hades' dungeon.
Emma was completely breathless, air coming in gulps and gasps as they entered the dungeon in a sprint, swords and guns drawn, and it wasn't only from fighting a hellbeast. It had started the moment she jabbed the sword into Killian's body, the metal slicing through his flesh as his face was wrenched in pain and agony and her own heart was torn in two.

You see, she'd learned something vitally important that day: she not only _loved_ Killian Jones, she couldn't live without him - couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't breathe in a world where he wasn't beside her, alive and safe. It's what had prompted her to go to the Underworld and get him back, because she'd rather be dead if it meant they'd be together than go on living in a world where she was empty, where every heartbeat was a wicked reminder of his absence. Now that she was there, she'd tear apart every corner of Hades' kingdom, she'd take on the man himself to get to Killian. She was so close, she could feel it in her bones, her soul reverberating with the knowledge of his presence.

"KILLIAN!" she shrieked when she saw him, her heart skipping a beat. He was lying facedown on the floor, but it was unmistakably him, his dark hair a mess, falling over his forehead in thick clumps, tinged with blood. His hook was missing from his brace, but she knew where it was - safely tucked away in her pocket from when Hades had given it to her to taunt her. She was almost panting as she bent down to him, shaking like a leaf as she grasped him firmly by the shoulders and rolled him onto his back.

His face was beaten and bruised, his left eye swollen completely shut, and he was covered in blood, dripping from his head over his shoulder and all the way down his arm, but he was still as handsome as ever, and more importantly he was real and warm to her frantic touch. The urge to pepper him with kisses all over his body was subverted only by her need to help him, to heal him and make sure he was alright first.

Killian's eyes flashed open. "Emma!" He croaked, and she shushed him, stroking her fingers through his hair as her parents and Hercules stood over them, faces filled with concern.

"Shh, it's OK. I'm here now, we've come for you," she said, her head gesturing to her parents, whose faces split into grins as Snow took Charming's hand. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

He groaned as she helped him up into a sitting position, his right hand going inside his jacket to clutch at his ribs. Emma's face contorted in sympathy pain, her breathing coming in ragged gulps to match his own as she attempted to hold back the tears she knew were coming, ready to break free at any moment.

"You're here, you're really here," he managed to get out, his face filled with awe. She grabbed his head and brought his forehead to her own, cradling his face to hers as she closed her eyes and took in the moment, unable to deal with all the emotions she was feeling at once - tenderness, shock, relief, anger, and love - always love, above all else, her heart nearly bursting at the seams as it began to knit itself back together. She could feel him breathing out in puffs of warm air against her cheek and she choked on another sob, her chest heaving as she began to wheeze, a single tear escaping into the space between them and dripping onto her wrist.

"We'll give you two a moment," she heard her father say in his warm baritone, footsteps shuffling out of the room as they left them alone. She was grateful for that, because as much as she knew her parents understood how much she loved Killian, they didn't need to be a part of every moment between them, and this moment in particular felt special, like only the two of them existed in all of the universe. Surely two people who share a heart could understand that they might want to experience it alone.

"Oh, God, Killian, I was worried we'd never find you," she bit out as she pulled back, her hands roaming over his head and shoulders, finding him solid and real and never wanting to let him go.

He shrugged his shoulder before grimacing. "A bit bruised and broken, but I'm here, love. You found me, I knew you would."

She was surprised by the certainty in his voice. "You did?"

"Aye," he said with a bit of a smile. "Ever since I saw you through the spell you created, though I wasn't able to tell you where I was. It almost broke my heart in two to see you crying like that, but it gave me hope all the same, hope that you had really come to find me."

A smile spread her cheeks. "Did you ever doubt I would?" She shook her head at him in disbelief, her hand stroking over his shoulder and down his arm, unable to stop touching him.

"Given the fact that I died, can you really blame me? It did seem a bit…final." He smiled wanly, his eyes going shadowed as he remembered that terrible moment, the pain of dying.

She shook her head again. "I'm sorry, but I love you too much to let a little thing like death come between us."

He grinned at that - a real, warm smile that made her insides melt and her pulse tick up a notch - as she realized that this was really happening, that they were together now and nothing could stop them from fighting their way back to the land of the living. No witch or hellbeast, not Rumplestiltskin or Pan, not even Hades himself. Together, they would take them all on and win, she knew it as sure as she knew the sun would rise each morning and the moon would come out at night.

Smiling, she leaned forward, grabbing him to her and and kissing him, a soft press of her lips that she knew they were both desperate for until he groaned, pulling back suddenly and clutching at his side, and she remembered, dismayed, that he was still injured.

"Here, let me," she said, covering his hand with her own and closing her eyes as she focused all the love she felt for him into her light magic, into healing his flesh and soldering his bones back together. It flowed powerfully from her hand, strength coming easily now that they were back together.

"Mmmm," she hear him moan, his chest heaving as the magic took effect. She opened her eyes and he moved his hand away, looking surprised but grateful. "Thank you, love. That's much better."

"Not finished with you yet," she said as she moved her hand over his eye and repeated the task, the warmth of their love easily mending skin and muscle that had been damaged in his fight with the cerberus. He managed to raise his other eyebrow at her remark and she chuckled slightly, impressed that even in this state he still managed to be sexy, but really, why was she surprised?

He blinked his eyes a few times, adjusting to having them both working again as he reached out and grabbed her other wrist, giving it a gentle squeeze. Emma waved her free hand over his head and down his body and watched as the blood evaporated into the air in a red cloud and then giving her wrist one more flick, she vanished it away.

"Better?" she asked as she watched him tilt his head and bite his lower lip, and it was all she could do not to fling herself into his arms, wanton and powerless against his charms. _God, she loved him_. Her heart began to speed up again on its own accord, and she could feel her breathing getting deeper, though it still felt like she had just run a marathon.

"That depends. Am I devilishly handsome again?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

She grinned, rolling her eyes, but only playfully, really. She loved it when he was a flirt, and judging by the look in his eyes, he knew it all too well. Giving him her hands, she helped him up from the floor, and they stood there taking each other in as they clutched one another's arms.

"Aye," she finally answered, but not before looking him over carefully, her eyes lingering on his long eyelashes, the deep blue of his eyes, the soft pink of his lips, even the hint of chest hair that had still managed to find its way out out of his shirt.

He looked into her eyes and she watched his brow furrow as he was overcome with emotion, and it took her breath away to see the love reflecting back at her, his eyes shining with the purity and strength of it.

"I love you, Emma Swan," he said softly, and she could wait no longer, grabbing him by the lapels and hauling him to her, kissing him with the force of a love so true, so startling, it practically knocked them both to their knees.

Forging her lips to his, he responded in kind, and she felt as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her flush against him, their chests pressed so tightly together she could feel their hearts beating as one. It was as if this was always meant to be, from the beginning of time, that she should be here kissing this man, and everything clicked as the stars realigned into their proper order. Her lungs opened up, and for the first time in a long time, she could breathe again, every atom in her body coming to life as oxygen surged through her blood.

She opened her mouth to him and moaned as his tongue slid past hers, the sensation heavenly and exotic in this dark world so dim and dreary. It was too good - too much - but all she wanted was more, to spend every waking moment wrapped in Killian's arms, pressed as tightly together as physics would allow, his mouth warm and insistent on hers as she took in the solid feel of his body, so strong and real, her fingers finding their way into the silky overgrown locks of hair around his neckline.

They both pulled back reluctantly, Emma tracing the scar on his cheek with her thumb as he gazed at her tenderly, his arms slackening their hold on her as his hand and stump came to rest at her waist. "Mmm," she hummed, letting out a loud, contented sigh.

"What do you say we get out of here, sailor?" she asked, cheeky grin in place as she took his hand and started pulling him from the room.

"I say it's about bloody time!" Killian responded with a raise of one eyebrow, and the innuendo was hardly lost on her as he looked her over appreciatively, a shiver running down her spine at his thorough perusal.

They hadn't made love yet, they had been waiting for the right time, and more than that, Emma had wanted to be ready both physically and mentally, to make sure it _meant_ something and wasn't just them giving into their baser urges. Of course, she regretted that decision deeply after he died, never knowing what it would feel like to be completely fused together, though she had imagined it many, many times. Now that she'd found him, she was determined to make those fantasies turn into reality, and she vowed never to hold anything back from him again.

"Oh, here, I almost forgot," she said, reaching in her jacket pocket and retrieving his hook, holding it out to him as they made their way down the corridor. He took it and inserted it into his brace, twisting until it clicked into place and she smiled at the satisfied look on his face.

"Now, that's more like it!" he said cheerfully. She smiled, but turned away, looking ahead of them down the corridor in case anyone - or _anything_ \- should be coming their way. Suddenly, he grabbed her hand, spinning her towards him. "I almost forgot something, meself," he said mischievously before he took three very determined steps forward until he had her pinned against the wall, his knee finding its way in between her thighs. She had one magical moment to appreciate the warmth of the fire burning in his eyes before he crushed her mouth with his, and all thoughts were lost in a blur of love and lust clouding her better judgement. His hook found its way up under her sweater and she shivered at the gentle scrape of cool metal as his hand came down her side, leaving heat in its wake, his thumb barely grazing over her nipple on the way down. Then he was palming her ass and she gasped into his mouth, amazed that someone so very dead could make her feel more alive than she'd ever been in her entire life.

He raised his thigh slightly, rubbing it against her center, and she almost wanted to say "to hell" with everything else and just let him take her right there against that very wall. Perhaps the Underworld was starting to have that effect on her. Certainly the feel of his very hard, very large erection rubbing against her belly was having that effect. He must be feeling much, much better.

Killian left her mouth to kiss along her jawline, slowly making his way down her neck with wet, knee-weakening kisses that had her clutching at his shoulders to stand up straight while holding him to her and leaning her head back to give him better access.

"Perhaps we could find ourselves a room at Granny's," Killian whispered in a rough voice, the tickle of his whiskers against the shell of her ear sending goosebumps down her arms.

"Why settle for a room at Granny's when we've got a whole house to ourselves?" she asked him breathlessly, causing him to lift his head and look at her as she raised a sultry eyebrow at him.

His face broke out in a wide grin, making him more handsome than ever, and he waggled his eyebrows at her as he gave her something between a growl and a laugh in response, tucking his tongue behind his teeth as he squeezed her ass roughly. She squeaked and jumped, slapping his shoulder playfully.

He kissed her again soundly, and she took the opportunity to reach down and grab his ass with both hands, pulling his hips into hers in both an invitation and a promise. "You've no idea what I'm going to do to you, Swan," he whispered darkly in her ear, causing a strong clench between her thighs. Then he pulled away from her and grabbed her hand, leading them further down the corridor and closer to the exit.

She was pretty sure she had a good idea what he was going to do to her, and she couldn't wait, a smile spreading across her face that even Hades himself couldn't wipe off. Emma took a deep breath, steadying herself for their reunion with her parents, and she was relieved at how much easier the air came now. They'd found Killian - her pirate; her hero; her moon, her sun and her stars - and she was never, _ever_ , going to let him go again.


End file.
